by Fanny Finch
“I first met her at your aunt’s house at a party. It was just a few months later, in the middle of the social season when I fell ill and had no one who would come to help me. It was your sister who came to my side and stayed with me until I was healthy again.”
The Duke of Thornwall looked like he had not heard the story before. Lady Elizabeth was surprised Lady Agatha had not told him about it.
“She left behind many opportunities to find a husband that season and sacrificed that time for me. When she wrote me about her accident, I could not pass up the chance to repay her for her kindness.”
“That does sound like something Agatha would do.” The Duke of Thornwall nodded. “She is a sweet woman who is always kind to her friends. And you have been so good to my sister. I do admit, when you first arrived, I was afraid your energy would be too much for her.”
Lady Elizabeth nodded. She remembered his objection to her presence. She gazed at him with soft eyes. “You have since changed your mind?”
The Duke of Thornwall’s returned glance was just as adoring. It made Lady Elizabeth feel warm inside.
“You know Agatha means the world to me. I would have sent you away the moment I thought you were harming her recovery. But you did just the opposite. You have encouraged her as I never could have.”
“It is not your fault you listened to the doctor’s advice,” Lady Elizabeth said quietly. “I just knew that staying in bed was not what Aggie needed. She needs sunshine and fresh air to nourish her soul and her body. She is a treasure to me. I would never harm her, not in any way.”
The Duke of Thornwall nodded. “I believe you, Lady Elizabeth. I thank you for your sincerity and honesty. I am anxious to begin again with you. I would like to know more about your family and your history.”
“One thing I can tell you, my lord,” Lady Elizabeth decided to lighten the mood between them. “Is that I got my fiery temper from my mother. So if you ever meet her, you may want to remember that.”
The Duke of Thornwall threw back his head and let out an abrupt laugh. “My goodness, I do thank you for that suggestion.”
“My lord, if you need any help with your bandages, I have some training in wound treatment. My father studied the field of medicine and treated men during wartime when he was a young man. He passed along some of his most critical knowledge to me. I have found it very useful.”
The Duke of Thornwall lifted his eyebrows. “What type of medicine can you perform?”
“I saw that you had many cuts on your upper body. Some of them may be deep. If they are not properly cleaned and closed, they may become infected. This would not be good at all. It is very dangerous.”
The duke pulled his brows together. “And you know how to perform these procedures?”
“I do. There is only one problem, my lord.”
“Tell me what it is.”
“If I were to perform the procedures to close your wounds, it will need to be kept quiet. If word should get out that I stayed here and saw you for a prolonged period of time…”
“I understand,” the Duke of Thornwall cut off her sentence. He pushed his chair back, appearing to be thinking about it. “I believe I could keep it inside these castle walls if you will agree to do the same.”
“My lord. You know I would not offer such a thing if I wished damage to either of our reputations.”
“When would you like to perform these procedures?”
“I will need to find the supplies I need. I will go to the village and get them.”
The Duke of Thornwall shook his head. “Make a list of what you need. I will send Milla to town to purchase them.”
Lady Elizabeth smiled at him. “I think that is a good idea, my lord. Thank you for the offer. If you have paper and pen, I will make a list now.”
The Duke of Thornwall looked at the scattered papers across his desk. He shuffled through a few of them before pulling a blank one from in between two others and sliding it in her direction. He took a pen from a holder to his right and set it on the paper.
He watched her as she wrote, which made her a bit nervous. His admiring brown eyes scanned her face as she wrote the list. She thought back to her training and wrote down every item she could think of that she might need.
“Would you like for me to inform Lady Agatha of what we are doing, my lord?”
“We will keep this to ourselves, Lady Elizabeth. Only a few need to know what we are doing. Perhaps Smithson.”
Lady Elizabeth looked at him with soft eyes, pushing her list toward him. “Thank you for trusting me with this, Your Grace. It means a great deal to me that you are.”
Chapter 32
The Duke of Thornwall went to the door and opened it, looking out into the corridor to see if anyone was around. He spotted Smithson at the other end of the corridor, using a small cloth on a large suit of armor, rubbing it to shine it.
“Smithson!” he called out. The older man looked at him and stepped down from the pedestal the suit of armor was displayed on. He hurried toward his master.
“May I help you, sir? Are you all right?”
“Yes. I need you to give this list to Milla with a five-pound note and have her pick up everything she needs. If she needs more money, she may return for it but I require these items as soon as possible.”
He looked back toward the door of his study and then looked back. “Give her a ten-pound note. I want her to return with everything that is needed as soon as she can. Lady Elizabeth is skilled in the art of medicine and knows how to close my wounds properly. I have sent for the doctor but she will be quicker and I trust her.”
Smithson raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure of this, my lord?”
The Duke of Thornwall nodded. “I am. Milla needs to get these things as fast as possible. Send her now.”
“Yes, my lord.”
He took the list from the Duke of Thornwall and turned to hurry toward the foyer area where Lord Thornwall assumed Milla must be.
He turned back around and entered the study again, noticing that Lady Elizabeth’s gaze was directly on him.
“We have some time before the supplies arrive,” he said. “Would you like some refreshments while we wait?”
“That would be lovely, thank you, my lord.”
He turned and hurried back to the door. He called after Smithson to send refreshments. Lady Elizabeth was amused to hear Smithson yell back a response.
When he came back in the room, the Duke of Thornwall was smiling wide. She returned the smile, on the verge of giggling.
“He is a good butler,” the Duke of Thornwall said.
Lady Elizabeth smiled. “I agree with you, my lord.”
Instead of going around the desk to sit in his regular chair, the Duke of Thornwall sat across from Lady Elizabeth in the matching high-backed chair. The two chairs matched in every way but the color. One was blue with green trim while the other was green with blue trim.
She gazed at him, seeing his naked torso in her mind. “You have many scars from the Argyle fire, do you not?” Apprehension slid through her.
“I do, yes. Shall I tell you the story?”
“I would like to hear it, if you wish to tell me.”
“Are you sincerely interested in hearing it, Lady Elizabeth?”
She nodded. “I truly am, yes.”
“I am glad I ordered some refreshments. This could prove to be a very long tale. Are you sure you want to hear it?”
“I am doing nothing else, my lord.”
“I must tell you some background information before I relate the story to you. If anything I say bothers you, please let me know right away. I do not wish to disturb you with the details of my life four years ago. Or the details of the fire if you do not want to hear them.”
Lady Elizabeth scanned his face. She knew that if he was willing to tell her the story that had changed his life forever, he was trusting her with something that meant a great deal to him. That was a big step in their relationship for him. A
n important step.
“You may tell the tale however you wish, my lord. I am listening and I am interested.”
He nodded. “Thank you. I met Lady Sophia at a house party given by her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Argyle. It was an abrupt meeting and there were many other men clamoring for her hand. When she turned her eyes to me, I was enthralled. I was blessed, I felt, to have a woman such as her.”
He turned his eyes away from her and stared into space, caught up in his memories.
“She was a beautiful young woman of 17 when I first saw her. She was smart and talented. One of our favorite pastimes was reading aloud in the library together. We took turns reading from the same book until the end. We also took turns on who would pick the next book. We had a system worked out.”
“It sounds like fun,” Lady Elizabeth said softly.
He glanced back to her eyes and gazed at her with a warm look of remembrance. “It was. Ursula was Sophia’s governess. She was a good friend to Sophia and loved me as if I were her own flesh and blood.”
Lady Elizabeth nodded, immediately relating to Sophia in that matter. She had been close to her governess.
“I was also close to my governess,” she offered. The corners of his lips lifted in a small, pleased grin. “I was raised by her, while my parents went abroad and did their business dealings. I saw them almost as if they were distant relatives, instead of my own parents.”
The Duke of Thornwall nodded. “Sophia often mentioned that she wished she had seen her parents more often when she was growing from childhood to adulthood. She saw them more often, however, than I believe you did yours. Are you close to your parents now that you are grown?”
“I am closer to them now but I… I would not mind if there was more to it.”
“I understand.”
Lady Elizabeth lifted one hand to him. “I did not mean to distract you from your story, my lord. Please continue with what you were saying.”
“I courted Lady Sophia for two years. It seemed like a long time to some but it was only a short time to us. We knew that we were destined to marry, or so we thought, and believed we had all the time in the world. The rest of our lives, in fact. There were many plans for our future. I… I loved her dearly.”
Lady Elizabeth could see how he was struggling to talk about it. She leaned forward.
“My lord, if this is too difficult…”
The Duke of Thornwall shook his head. “I want you to know.”
Lady Elizabeth wanted to know as much about him as she could. She was anxious to hear the story but also hoping the look did not show on her face.
Knowing what caused the depth of the Duke of Thornwall’s pain would help her understand him better. It would help her control her temper so she did not jump to conclusions.
“For the second year of our courtship, Lady Sophia was deeply involved in planning for the wedding. She and her mother, the Duchess of Argyle, were going to make it the most beautiful event society would ever see. Society would be amazed by the amount of flowers she would have, Lady Sophia liked to say.”
He stopped when Smithson knocked on the door. He opened it and pushed in a rolling cart. He nodded at the Duke of Thornwall, who gestured with his head in Phoebe’s direction. Smithson pushed the cart to Phoebe and let her take a plate of biscuits and pastries, along with a fresh, hot cup of tea.
She thanked him and he went to the Duke of Thornwall and Lady Elizabeth.
He poured their tea and held out the pastry tray and the biscuit tray.
“Thank you, Smithson. You may leave them. It is very much appreciated.”
“You are welcome, my lord. I do hope your afternoon sees you well. Can I be of further service to you?”
“No, I believe that will be all for now.”
“Yes, my lord.”
He turned around and headed back out the door, leaving the hot water teapot for fresh tea and the trays of biscuits and pastries behind on the rolling cart.
Lady Elizabeth relished the tasty treats but quickly prompted the Duke of Thornwall to continue his story.
Chapter 33
Lord Thornwall stared at his face in the mirror, lifting his lips to bare his teeth. He wanted to look the best he could for Lady Sophia Argyle. In one month, they were to be married. This would be one of the last times they would read together before they began sharing their life together.
He chuckled remembering how Lady Sophia asked him in a serious voice if they would continue their ritual of reading together after they were married.
“We will tire ourselves of one another and will not want to read together anymore.”
Lord Thornwall shook his head in response to that. “No. We will make sure that does not happen. We will remember this conversation and we will keep our tradition until we are old and gray.”
Lord Thornwall was anxious to see her. He had been away on business for the last week and had no way to contact her. He had not told her but he had spent every moment of every day thinking about her, wondering what she was doing, if she was happy.
All he wanted in the world was her happiness. He would sacrifice anything to get it.
The parlor door behind him opened, causing the light fabric drapes to billow out from the open window, rippling a light blue into the room as the candles caught their color.
He turned to smile at Lady Sophia, who was looking lovelier than ever in a dark brown evening gown trimmed with gold flowers and lacing. It fit her figure nicely and was nearly the exact same color as her hair.
She was followed by her companion, an older woman named Ursula. The older woman immediately went to a nearby table and set down a wicker basket with a lid. She sat in a comfortable chair near the table and reached into the basket to retrieve her sewing materials.
Lord Thornwall was familiar with Ursula and had made friends with her over the years he had been courting Lady Sophia. He did not consider her behavior rude, though she did not greet him. She was aware of the love burning between himself and the sweet woman he was standing in front of. She spoke the words herself, saying she would not interfere in their love.
She believed they were meant to be.
“Ursula was there the night of the fire?” Lady Elizabeth asked, cutting into his story. He nodded.
“Yes. She was there that night.”
“I did not mean to interrupt,” she continued in an apologetic voice. “Please continue.”
She was carrying Lord Thornwall’s favorite novel. They had read it twice before but found they liked it more each time they read it. They often discussed the books they read together. This book was the one they found they had the most common understanding. Therefore, it had become their favorite book.
“Are you ready to delve back into our book, my love?” She asked in the softest, most loving voice Lord Thornwall had ever heard.
He had always considered his parents to share a great love, one that stories could be written about. But he had never heard his mother speak to his father in a tone quite that loving. Everything about her drew him in.
Her slender face with features that were perfect for each other was something he wanted to gaze upon for the rest of his life. Her brilliant smile lit up a room. Her laughter was infectious.
The two sat near each other on a blanket on the floor, spread out in the middle of the parlor. Lord Argyle did not want them disturbed. Once Ursula was in the parlor, he made sure no other visitors were shown there. They were to be brought to his study immediately.
Lord Thornwall felt blessed to have such a man on his side. Lord Argyle was powerful but not only that, he was a sound businessman and he seemed a good judge of character.
After all, he had agreed to let his daughter marry Lord Thornwall. That said something about his keen sense of people.
Lord Thornwall’s smile grew just a bit more, if that were possible. He leaned as close as he dare to his beloved woman and read along with the words while the other one spoke it out loud.
Soon th
e two of them were leaning back on large pillows stacked up to make the softest back rests imaginable.
Lord Thornwall was so comfortable, he nearly fell asleep. It would not have been a good thing to do, considering Lady Sophia was his entertainment for the evening.
Reading with her had become his time of relaxation. It was the only time he could think of when he would not have to deal with interruptions and action.
When Lord Thornwall looked at Lady Sophia, he saw safety. She was a fiercely loyal woman and would never betray him in any way. She had a temper but it was nothing Lord Thornwall could not handle.
